Photo by Travis Pratt Railside Cafe is located at 840 Jefferson Pike, Knoxville.

Some of that old-fashioned flavor has returned to the site of the Hawaiian Restaurant in the form of the Railside Cafe. The Railside opened in September in the same building that once housed the Hawaiian, which was as much nightclub as restaurant. Patsy Cline and many well-known big bands were regular performers during the Hawaiian’s heyday. The establishment, opened in 1934, was closed by 1980.

The stage is still there in the refurbished restaurant and displays the building’s original sign, along with postcards showing the Hawaiian in its glory days. There is also a model train set, owing to the area’s extensive railroad heritage.

The Hawaiian was located on what was once the main road from Frederick to Harpers Ferry, W.Va. A mural from the original restaurant depicts Knoxville, Harpers Ferry and the Potomac River surrounded by the mountains that loom over these landmarks. All this can make you feel like it’s 1959, not 2009. The restaurant has been refurbished from a nightclub into a family restaurant. While liquor was no doubt served in those early days, it’s absent from the menu now.

What is predominant on the menu is homestyle food — meatloaf, fried chicken and Salisbury steak. This is also the place to come if you crave a hot turkey or roast beef sandwich, a BLT or meatball sub.

The Railside is bright, with lots of windows and an airy feel. Rows of booths surround tables. There’s a small room with old-style windows and a breakfast counter. Breakfast is served all day, so if you crave omelets or pancakes for dinner, the Railside fills the bill.

On a Sunday afternoon, my husband and I went to eat at Railside during the restaurant’s Sunday dinner. The restaurant is open every evening except Sundays. Bowing to the old-fashioned Sunday tradition of eating the big meal in the early afternoon, the restaurant closes at 4 p.m. on Sundays.

We ordered the crab dip, but unfortunately the restaurant had run out of this dish. We settled on fried shrimp. These were mini breaded shrimp served with cocktail sauce. The shrimp were crispy and hot, served right out of the fryer.

My husband ordered the homestyle fried chicken dinner, $9.99. This included four pieces of breaded fried chicken served with a vegetable and mashed potatoes. That day’s vegetable was green beans cooked in salt pork, a local favorite. Instead of the mashed potatoes, which are served with gravy if requested, he substituted French fries. These were fresh cut, and actually looked as though they had been sliced from a potato.

The chicken was crispy and well-seasoned, and the fries were very tasty.

I ordered the tuna salad platter, $6.99. This came with a large scoop of tuna salad, tomato wedges and hard-boiled eggs on a bed of leaf lettuce. The tuna salad was tasty and comforting. It had plenty of tuna and was not too heavy on the mayonnaise. The lettuce was crispy and fresh.

Dinners at the Railside range from Darcy’s Homemade Meatloaf to Railside Noodles, egg noodles and ground beef in a tomato sauce topped with cheese. There is also turkey pot roast, pan-seared tilapia and grilled salmon. Dinner prices range from $7.99 to $15.99, or $23.99 for a 12-ounce Angus strip steak. There are also nightly specials, which include Brunswick stew with cornbread and Salisbury steak with scalloped potatoes.

The restaurant also features sliders, which are small burgers, as well as slider hot dogs and slider cheesesteaks. Sandwiches include Italian cold cut sub, mushroom and Swiss cheese burger, fish, ham or turkey and cheese, BLT, chicken club, steak and cheese and meatball sub.

Salads include chef salad, taco salad, tuna salad and Caesar salad. Breakfast items feature omelets, creamed chipped beef and this interesting choice, Pound Cake French Toast. Old fashioned oatmeal and cornmeal mush are also available, along with breakfast sandwiches. Breakfast prices range up to $7.49 for omelets and $9.99 for chicken-fried steak and eggs.

Desserts are worth saving a little room for. We decided to split a Fruit Berry Blossom, $4.79, a homestyle pie made with apples, blackberries, blueberries and raspberries in flaky pastry. This was a melt-in-your-mouth dessert, with the fresh fruit flavors mingling with the buttery pie crust. Two small blossoms are featured, making this easy to split. Each one is topped with a dollop of whipped cream.

Other desserts include apple pie, bread pudding, brownie sundae and Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. Funnel cake fries are also available.

After we finished, we went outside and saw the old “tourist court.” This was a series of small cabins. Some are now in disrepair, and some are rented as apartments. This old motor court is a reminder of an era when the automobile was new and travelers saw the country by two-lane road.